WE learned last week that property prices in Moss Side had quadrupled since 2000, writes Richard Butt.

They've risen quite a lot everywhere of course but if you had sunk all your investments in bricks and mortar in Moss Side at the turn of the millennium, you'd have made more dosh there than in most other places.

So was this true or was it all just estate agents' hype?

Well, I visited Helena Little, who performs as Helena Leonard as a professional opera singer, in her house a short walk from Manchester City's former Maine Road stadium.

She'd done it up tastefully and it's a joy to walk around. She's friendly with most of her neighbours and is active in her community.

Everyone on the street seems to know each other. Hanging baskets are on many houses and the first dwarf daffodil had just flowered on the pavement display outside.

Opera singers, hanging baskets and interior design are a far cry from what most people, especially in the national media, would expect from the area.

As for house prices, Helena moved there in 2001 and bought her house for £28,000. She's done a lot of work and would expect to get up to £125,000 now. Not a bad return for her investment - and those estate agents seem to be telling the truth for once.

Helena and other people in the area reminded me that the fundamentals of Moss Side are good. It's close to town and Princess Road takes you down to the airport.

Of course, if we get road pricing, the allure of a long commute will diminish even further, which is, I suppose, the point of it.

In fact, if everyone who worked in the city centre simply moved nearer it - and the cheapest places in Manchester still tend to be in the "doughnut" around the city centre: Ardwick, Beswick, Moss Side, Salford, Ancoats and so on - a lot of long journeys would simply never have to take place.

Then we wouldn't have to invest in public transport out to the far-flung suburbs either.

Often you'll hear people say: "I have to have a car because of where I live."

The reality is: "I can live where I live only because I have a car."

That's a choice but it seems that it's a choice that all three main parties are determined to make more expensive. So perhaps all the commuters should follow Helena's example, quickly, and move into the inner city, before property prices rise even more there and tumble further away. Who knows?

In 20 years' time we could be sitting in our Moss Side condos, reading about the badlands of Bramhall and the urban decay of Hale.